REPORT: Who’s Tipping the Scales? Rebalancing power for democratic food system governance

25 April 2023. Report Launch: Who’s Tipping the Scales? Rebalancing power for democratic food system governance - VIRTUAL SIDE EVENT 24-28 April 2023. Viet Nam, One Planet Network Sustainable Food Systems Conference

Who controls the food we eat? Deep power asymmetries in food system governance block the transformation we need. 

At this event, the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) launched a new publication: Who’s Tipping the Scales?. They shared their findings on the power imbalances that challenge democratic decision-making on food, and propose transformative governance reforms needed to address them.

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  Molly Anderson

  IPES-Food Panel Member and Food Studies Chair at Middlebury College

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  Lim Li Ching

  IPES-Food Co-Chair and Senior Researcher at Third World Network

IPES (2023) Who’s Tipping the Scales? Rebalancing power for democratic food system governance #44 p.

• Read the briefing note ( EN | FR | ES )
• This is the third of a series of briefings on global governance of food systems. 

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  ‘Who’s Tipping the Scales?’ finds that corporate control over our food has become the norm. 

1. Corporations have unduly shaped the institutions, policies and norms that govern our food systems. From academic curricula to healthy diet initiatives to high-level advisory bodies – signs of corporate influence in food systems are now pervasive.
2. As transnational food and farming companies grow ever bigger their playbook is evolving, and their ability to set the agenda is increasing. They have convinced governments they must be central in any discussion on the future of our food.
3. Responding adequately to the ongoing food price crisis, worsening hunger, and the climate crisis requires acting against powerful vested interests. Yet that entails decision-making that is free from corporate overreach and that serves the demands of communities most in need.

Some of the most prominent agri-food publicprivate partnerships include the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and the G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (NAFSN),12 all of which involve close linkages between governments, international organizations, big business, and private foundations. (page 8)

Transnational corporations shape science and popular discourse in numerous ways, including through the sponsorship of academic research that is sympathetic to corporate interests, which can ultimately influence the direction of policy and governance. This kind of practice has been documented with respect to the processed food industry as well as in the agrochemical sector. (page 12)

Civil society organizations are usually included in multi-stakeholder initiatives, but critics charge this is often window-dressing, to give the appearance of fairness.49 Also, these organizations are rarely invited on behalf of their self-organized networks and alliances – leaving fragmented and imbalanced representation. (page 15)

As a form of self-monitoring or self-regulation, due diligence procedures as developed by the companies themselves lack the independence and impartiality required to be a serious tool to identify and prevent human rights abuses.  (page 19) 

Government resources are important to avoid agenda and research capture that accompanies corporate financing. These resources should be prioritized for public-interest-based initiatives such as public-sector research and development, programming, public procurement contracts, subsidies, financing, and international assistance.  (page 24) 

Related: 

• Read the first briefing An 'IPCC for food'? ( EN | FR | ES )
• Read the second briefing, 'Smoke & Mirrors' ( EN | FR | ES )
• Read the special report: IPES (2023) Breaking the Cycle of Unsustainable Food Systems, Hunger, and Debt: A special report ( EN | FR | ES ) + Read a one page summary for policymakers ( EN )
  This special report shows how today's unsustainable and inequitable food systems are a key contributor to a spiralling debt crisis. Import dependencies, extractive financial flows, boom-bust commodity cycles, and climate-vulnerable food systems are combining to destabilize the finances of the world's poorest countries. It calls for comprehensive debt relief in tandem with food system transformation.